# Chapter 102
When he returned to the hospital room, Tae Igyeol was awake. He was sitting up in bed with the head raised to a comfortable position. Already pale by nature, wearing a hospital gown with a cast and an IV needle inserted, his recently gaunt face looked even more wan.
“You’re awake? How’s the pain?”
“I’m fine.”
“Yeah, right. You look fine—pale as a ghost without a hint of color.”
Mo Eunje sipped his strawberry juice through a straw as he approached Tae Igyeol and sat down in the caregiver’s chair.
“Why did you only throw one punch at that thug? You should have half-killed him.”
“Just one punch works in my favor. If I’d thrown another, it would have been disadvantageous.”
“You crazy bastard. You calculated even that in the moment? Hey, make a fist.”
Mo Eunje grabbed Tae Igyeol’s uninjured left wrist. When Tae Igyeol curled his fingers into a fist, it became incredibly solid even without applying force. It was fortunate that he had struck with his left fist. If it had been his right, the damage wouldn’t have stopped at a collapsed nasal bone and lost teeth. As he examined Tae Igyeol’s left hand from various angles, Mo Eunje thought this was less like a human fist and more like a weapon.
“How does a right-handed person collapse someone’s nose and knock out teeth with their left hand… You really held back with me back then, didn’t you?”
“Are you crazy? How could I ever hit you?”
“I know. I was the only one attacking while you just defended. But isn’t that kind of pathetic? Even if I lost some teeth, if I’d taken a proper hit, my pride wouldn’t have been so wounded.”
When they had their first real physical altercation at eighteen, though they called it a fight, Tae Igyeol never raised a hand against him. While they were both shouting furiously at each other, when Mo Eunje threw his bag, Tae Igyeol blocked it with his arm, and when Mo Eunje grabbed his collar and threw punches, Tae Igyeol took some of the hits.
After taking a few hits, Tae Igyeol must have decided enough was enough and began defending himself properly, but even that didn’t last long before he subdued Mo Eunje in one swift move as if it were a nuisance. Being the same age and gender but having both wrists restrained and unable to move, Mo Eunje felt his pride wounded to the bone and was so upset that he thrashed about for days, unable to sleep.
“That’s what you get for dating a girlfriend. Next time you meet a girl, I might really hit you.”
“No giant bullshit allowed.”
“Not you. How could I hit you?”
“This is serious trouble. Are you in your right mind? Have you had your head examined? Let’s ask them to check it now. I think you might have a head injury too.”
“So unless you plan on turning me into garbage criminal, don’t date.”
“Please give it a rest, okay? Stop charging ahead mindlessly and try to be more flexible. How can you still talk like that when you’re in this condition from an injury?”
Mo Eunje had no idea where to start correcting Tae Igyeol, who seemed to have no intention of hiding his feelings anymore and was openly appealing to him. Unable to sigh directly in someone’s face, he sucked on his strawberry juice to calm his frustration.
“In that moment when my arm felt like it was going to tear from the impact and my brain was ringing, I had this thought.”
“Don’t tell me. I’m not curious.”
“Ah, Mo Eunje must be coming now.”
“I said don’t tell me.”
“So even if you want to avoid me now, you can’t.”
“You crazy bastard, seriously, tone it down a bit. If you say one more weird thing to me, I’m just going to leave.”
“I’m in pain, where would you go? You should stay by my side.”
It made no sense, yet somehow this miraculous logic was more persuasive than any other reason. There was no way Mo Eunje could go anywhere while Tae Igyeol was injured and hospitalized. But not wanting to agree so readily, he pushed back.
“Why can’t I leave? It’s not like I’m the one who’s sick.”
“So you’d really leave me here alone?”
Tae Igyeol held up both his arms in front of Mo Eunje’s eyes. One was encased in a plaster cast wrapped with bandages, and the other had an IV needle inserted in the back of his hand. Mo Eunje already felt terribly sorry for him even when he was just sitting there, but Tae Igyeol didn’t miss the opportunity to make his move.
“No giant tricks allowed.”
“…”
“We’re calling a truce. So don’t make things uncomfortable until you’re discharged. Otherwise, I really will leave.”
“…Okay. I won’t do that, so don’t go. Take care of me.”
He accepted the truce. Until he verbalized his feelings, this relationship, precarious as it was, wouldn’t collapse. Just because the sun is temporarily covered by clouds doesn’t mean it disappears. When the clouds pass, the sun radiates its bright light again. So perhaps these clouds would naturally pass by as they were. He sincerely hoped so.
“Hah… I’m just glad it’s only this much, seriously…”
Out of frustration, he raised his fist to hit Tae Igyeol’s arm but stopped mid-motion. He wasn’t sure what possessed him to raise his foolish fist—where on earth would he hit Tae Igyeol? Mo Eunje lowered his hand feebly and spoke in a serious voice, glaring.
“Promise me. That you won’t get hurt again.”
“I promise.”
“Promise me again. That you won’t use that fist to hit people anymore.”
“…”
Tae Igyeol, who had been answering readily, fell silent and maintained eye contact. It felt like it had been a long time since Mo Eunje had looked directly into those eyes, which sparkled transparently like glass beads. He had been avoiding these beautiful eyes for a while.
“Hey, you’re supposed to answer. Why aren’t you saying anything?”
Since one never knows what might happen in life, and one could get hurt due to others’ mistakes, the first promise was actually more difficult to keep. Yet he made that difficult promise without hesitation, while refusing to make the second promise that was easier to keep because it was entirely within his control. Mo Eunje couldn’t guess why someone who had never carelessly raised a fist throughout his life was now keeping his mouth shut.
“Tae Igyeol. Promise me.”
“I can’t. Not getting hurt is something I can manage by being careful, but if someone bullies or threatens you, how can I just stand by and do nothing?”
“Sigh… Igyeol, I’m scared. I’m terrified that if you hit someone, you might kill them. There probably won’t be any situation where someone bullies or threatens me, but if such a situation does arise, don’t step in yourself—call the police.”
“…Alright. But I can’t guarantee it.”
How many things in life can one easily guarantee? Mo Eunje decided to be satisfied with this compromising answer. If Tae Igyeol were threatened, he too would probably rush in and throw a punch before thinking to call the police.
“Eunje. You were really shocked, weren’t you?”
“Ban Hajun told me your arm was broken from hitting the hoop. How could I not be shocked?”
Tae Igyeol subtly overlapped his hand—the one with the IV needle—with Mo Eunje’s. Mo Eunje was about to say something about making things uncomfortable despite their agreement, but since it didn’t feel as uncomfortable as he expected, he let it be. Just as he had found comfort in the hand Tae Igyeol had held when he was crying, he felt at ease thinking of this as simply offering comfort for a quick recovery.
“You were worried.”
“Wouldn’t you be worried if you were me? I was so scared thinking your arm was broken and needed surgery.”
“It still hurts even though it’s not broken.”
“Does it hurt a lot? What should we do? Oh right, the nurse said earlier to call if you’re in a lot of pain.”
As a flustered Mo Eunje stood up to reach for the nurse call intercom, Tae Igyeol tightened his grip on his hand and forced him back into his seat. Blood briefly pooled in the IV line connected to the back of his hand before disappearing.
“Don’t call. I can endure it.”
“Why endure the pain so stubbornly? This is a hospital—you should ask for painkillers or whatever to stop the pain.”
“But then I’d have to sleep again. When you just got here.”
“Why are you acting like we’ll only see each other for a day or two? I’ll be here until you’re discharged, so don’t endure the pain.”
“And after I’m discharged?”
“After you’re discharged… I need to find my own place. I can’t impose on you indefinitely.”
Mo Eunje pulled his hand away from Tae Igyeol’s grip, picked up the nurse call intercom, and reported that the patient was in pain. Soon, a nurse came in, asked about the intensity of the pain, talked briefly with Tae Igyeol, administered an anti-inflammatory painkiller, and left.
It was already close to midnight. Tae Igyeol would soon fall asleep as the medicine took effect, so Mo Eunje needed to get ready for bed in order to wake up in the morning, switch shifts, and go home to pick up some things. Though staying at the hospital wouldn’t be easy, he was determined to take care of Tae Igyeol with all his heart so that he wouldn’t feel any discomfort, no matter how tiring it might be.
“Auntie and Uncle were really shocked too. Uncle said he would handle the legal issues. They’ll come tomorrow morning, so don’t act prickly and behave yourself.”
“Yeah.”
Though the response was monotone and blunt, Mo Eunje didn’t mind and lowered Tae Igyeol’s bed. He went to the caregiver’s bedroom to get a pillow and blanket and noticed that chargers for various types of phones were provided. When he returned to the hospital room with the pillow and blanket in his arms, he saw that chargers of various types were also placed on the bedside table near the window, and there was a wireless charger on the bedside table closest to him.
He removed “charger” from the mental list of items he needed to bring tomorrow and placed his phone on the wireless charger. After confirming that it was charging properly, he turned off the lights with the remote control and lay down on the sofa, which was at some distance from the patient’s bed. It was convenient that all systems—lights, air conditioning, TV—could be controlled with a single remote.
“Why are you lying there when there’s a caregiver’s bedroom? Didn’t you say sleeping on the sofa ruins your back?”
“Shut up.”
Mo Eunje, who habitually slept in a straight, proper position, deliberately turned his back to Tae Igyeol and closed his eyes. Although the length of the sofa was shorter than his height, making it uncomfortable, it wasn’t so bad that he couldn’t lie down.
“Don’t you dare do anything to me.”
“I’m a patient.”
“But you’re still stronger than me. I want to sleep comfortably.”
“…Yeah. Good night.”
“…”
“Thanks for coming…”
His heart, which had been unsettled, calmed at the feelings conveyed in that low voice. Mo Eunje was able to fall asleep easily in the same space as Tae Igyeol for the first time in a long while. Unaware that the patient remained awake, watching him the whole time.
